Berger’s space

Introduction and Objective: The Berger’s space (BS) is a space located between the posterior capsule of the lens and the anterior hyaloid of the vitreous, structures that adhere in a circular manner by means of the Wieger ligament, for which the outer limit is defined by Egger´s line. The aim of this article is to perform a review of the BS, as well as to present three cases in which this BS could be demonstrated by optical coherence tomography (OCT). Material and Method: A total of 90 patients from a general ophthalmology clinic were studied, on whom an anterior pole OCT was performed (Cirrus Lumera 700 Carl Zeiss Medicte, Dublin, California, United States). All patients were included consecutively, with an analysis being performed on the cornea, anterior chamber, iris, lens, and anterior vitreous, but excluding those in which the test could not be performed. Results: The posterior lens capsule, the anterior hyaloid, and the BS between both structures were observed in three patients. This is the first time in the current literature that three cases have been described, together with their characteristics (one phakic –case 1- and two pseudophakic, one of them vitreous destructuring –case 2- and the other with opacification of the posterior capsule of the lens –case 3-), using this previous pole OCT technique. Conclusions: Knowledge of the BS is essential to understand the vitreo-lenticular junction and any complications in some cataract surgeries, as well as to also understand the pathological origin of pigment dispersion syndrome

Engaging consumer through the storefront: evidences from integrating interactive technologies

Although previous studies identified the importance of storefront windows on consumer’s entry decision, there is still a lack of research on engaging consumers at the storefront through the integration with interactive technologies. The purpose of this study is to carry out an exploratory investigation into the consumers preference for a certain store based on the storefront windows (in terms of entry decision), with emphasis on the current most attractive interactive technologies. Thus, we examine the extent to which an exploratory sample of consumers is influenced by storefront interactive technologies. Emotional aspects emerge as the most influencing ones in the case of traditional storefronts, while both emotional and functional aspects emerge as the most influencing factors while considering the integration of interactive technologies. In particular, our results shed light on the way these elements can be managed for the design of future attractive storefront windows, by providing important insights for scholars and practitioners

A representation scheme for digital product service system definitions.

The growing trend for delivering physical products to customers as parts of product service systems (PSS) is creating a need for a new generation of Computer Aided Design (CAD) system to support the design of PSS: so-called "PSS-CAD". Key research issues in the development of such systems include building understanding of the kinds of applications that designers of PSS might need and the establishment of well-founded representation schemes to underpin and support communication between PSS-CAD systems. Recent literature includes numerous descriptions of integrated PSS development processes, PSS-CAD tools to support these processes and early meta-models to provide information support. This paper complements this work by proposing a representation scheme that is a key prerequisite to achieving the interoperability between PSS-CAD systems which would be necessary to support the deployment of integrated PSS development processes in industry. The representation scheme, a form of meta-model, draws on learning from the product definition community that emerged in the 1970s in response to a need for interoperability between the different shape-based CAD systems that were being developed at the time. The initial focus on shape representation has developed to digital product definitions that define the design of a product coupled with meta-data recording details of processes by which the design was created and, more recently, supported through-life. Similarly, PSS-related information includes both PSS definitions, to support the lifecycles of physical products and associated services, and meta-data needed to support the management of PSS development processes. This paper focuses on information requirements for the definition of service elements of PSS and relationships with product elements and service actors. These requirements are derived from earlier work on the use of service blueprinting for the visualisation and mapping of service activities to deliver different types of service contract. Key information requirements addressed include the need to represent service process flow and breakdown structures, relationships between service and product elements, substitution relationships, and service variants. A representation scheme is proposed and demonstrated through application to a PSS case study. The representation scheme is built on a generic information architecture that has already been applied to problems of product definition; as such there is an underlying compatibility that offers real promise in the future realisation of integrated PSS development processes

Augmenting the Eye of the Beholder: Exploring the Strategic Potential of Augmented Reality to Enhance Online Service Experiences

Driven by the proliferation of augmented reality (AR) technologies, many firms are pursuing a strategy of service augmentation to enhance customers’ online service experiences. Drawing on situated cognition theory, the authors show that AR - based service augmentation enhances customer value perceptions by simultaneously providing simulated physical control and environmental embedding. The resulting authentic situated experience, manifested in a feeling of spatial presence, funct ions as a mediator and also predicts customer decision comfort. Furthermore, the effect of spatial presence on utilitarian value perceptions is greater for customers who are disposed toward verbal rather than visual information processing, and the positive effect on decision comfort is attenuated by customers’ privacy concerns

The effects of online social networking on retail consumer dynamics in the attractions industry: The case of ‘E-da’ theme park, Taiwan

Purpose of this study is to examine the trends in retail consumers’ consumption dynamics and patterns of purchase behavior within this new-technology-mediated environment. A behavioral purchase model was developed and tested to understand the ways social networks influence the decision making of individuals planning to visit a theme park. In particular, the proposed model delineates how online social networking (OSN) experience factors affect actual use (AU) of social media for purchasing of theme park services through an assessment of perceived usefulness (PU) and perceived ease of use (PEOU). An electronic survey was conducted with members of a theme park’s brand fan page on the Facebook social media site namely, the E-da World Theme park in the southern Taiwanese city of Kaohsiung. Smart PLS 3, a partial least squares analysis, was employed to examine a series of eleven research hypotheses. The findings revealed a series of statistically significant influences from five exogenous variables on PU and PEOU, as well as the mediating role of PU on the PEOU – AU relationship. The results also provide important practical implications both for academics and practitioners by shedding light on the way social media works to encourage and support online purchasing of amusement services.

A method to design integrated product-service systems based on the extended functional analysis approach

Over the recent years, the growing research interest in Product-Service Systems (PSS) design and development methods has generated a large background of theoretical knowledge, conceptual methods and application case studies. After analysing the research gaps emerging for these advances, this paper propose a new integrated PSS design method, which intends to associate to 3 key contributions: an increased degree of integration among all components of the method; a higher applicability in industrial companies; specific added-value in balancing economic models of the stakeholders of the PSS delivery network. The proposition is based on extending the Functional Analysis (FA) approach (NF X 50-100), which is commonly used in product engineering, in order to cover the requirements for PSS design and development. The paper intends to provide a conceptual justification, then an industrial verification, of the pertinence and applicability of the method proposed. The industrial experimentation is developed on an industrial PSS case study dealing with the design of an industrial cleaning solution